Tintin and the Quest to find Abdullah
by Sallyann074
Summary: Abdullah grapples with some serious issues and must decide how far he will go to defend what he believes in.


Chapter 1

Abdullah was bored and lonely. He sat in his bedroom, at his desk, staring at the screen of his laptop. He had just finished college in the United States, and now he had no idea what he really wanted to do with his life. His father, the emir, had told him to take some time off and indulge. He had been given a brand new sports car, and had sat several times, with his third cousin Amira, in the palace gardens, where he used to ride around in his toy sports car when he was little.

He did not find Amira attractive. She had a long, horse like face, but worst of all, she was obsessed with material wealth. Abdullah had grown wary of his toys. He had possessed countless speedboats, Rolex watches, Swiss Army knives, computers, video games, expensive sunglasses and scuba diving gear. At this point, they all meant nothing to him.

Amira, on the other hand, never tired of talking of her shopping expeditions to Doha, Dubai, London, Paris and Beverly Hills. Her father sat on the board of directors of Arabex, and owned four private jets. Amira would often, on a whim, have the Gulfstream made ready for a flight. She didn't even need her father's permission to do this, and she bragged about it incessantly. It was planned for Amira to become Abdullah's first wife.

Chapter 2

Abdullah had become somewhat friendly with a young junior imam at the mosque he attended with his father. In the back rooms of the mosque, the imam would invite Abdullah to sit and chat over biscuits and tea. Abdullah cherished the time spent together with the imam, for the imam seldom spoke, listened to all of Abdullah's concerns, and seemed to truly understand Abdullah. One day however, the Imam asked Abdullah, whether he believed that everything was alright with the world, and with their home country of Khemed. Abdullah admitted that he didn't, stating his concern over income inequality amongst brother Muslims, and the general obsession with wealth and ostentatiousness among those who had wealth.

The imam told Abdullah, that this was not the natural state of things. Every day, Muslims around the world, were being poisoned by devilish pornography, which emanated from the West. The imam pointed to global warming, famine and wars, as all being caused by a lack of morals, stemming from the greed and insanity, so prevalent among non Muslims. The imam said that if there existed a clear division between Muslim and non Muslim lands, then a peaceful co existence might be possible for several hundred more years. At the moment however, no Muslim country was free to act on its own, to establish and maintain its own ties with other countries, without some form of meddling from infidels, such as the United States.

Over the coming weeks, Abdullah became increasingly mesmerized by the imam's preachings. Three weeks before his impending marriage to Amira, Abdullah fled with 100 million dollars in cash, he had managed to siphon off from his father's accounts.

Chapter 3

Abdullah made his way by jeep, with two scruffy looking bearded men, in the dead of night, into Yemen, where he was taken to the address, that had been given to him by the young imam in Khemed. He handed over his suitcases containing the money, and was immediately shunted into a dark room, and the door locked behind him. After that, for four weeks, Abdullah was kept blindfolded and shunted from house to house, never knowing his whereabouts. Finally, his blindfold was removed, and he found himself at a camp in a desert location. He was immediately greeted by a large group of young men roughly his age. They greeted him warmly and bade him inside a mess tent. He made many friends and no enemies during his first few weeks at the camp.

At the camp Abdullah learned an extreme form of martial art, the use of deadly force, using only his own body as a weapon. He also learned how to handle firearms, knives, and to deal with a wide array of explosives. The group became familiar with deadly agents such as anthrax, ebola, and also the possibility of carrying a portable nuclear bomb into a crowded city. Abdullah and his friends at the camp, became the closest of brothers in spirit. There was not one there, who wasn't prepared to die for the others, without a moment's hesitation.

Abdullah was happier than he had ever been in his life. He felt his life now had a purpose, to defend the holy lands and his religion against a seemingly never ending onslaught of foreign intrusion. The insults perpetrated against his religious sensibilities were too much to bear, that he saw no choice but to fight, and give his life if necessary.

Chapter 4

There was one thing that bothered the former little prankster however. Abdullah still had a love for practical jokes. In college, in Florida during his freshman year, his best friend had been an incredibly funny American of Iranian descent from Los Angeles. Reza had been his name, and he had been a natural born comedian. He would often have Abdullah in stitches in their freshman dorm, imitating professors and other students, and telling all sorts of hilarious jokes. Together they played numerous practical jokes on their dorm mates. After freshman year, Reza abruptly moved back to L.A., to help in his family's business, and to continue his studies there. Abdullah had briefly missed him, but soon made new friends and lost touch.

Reza and Abdullah had occasionally talked about their faith. The cleft between Sunnis and Shiites had never been a point of contention between them. They had been good friends, and neither one cared about some old quarrels between a few ancient guys who came after Mohammad. They both took the teachings of Mohammad seriously, and both cared very deeply about living a true and just life under Allah. What bothered Abdullah, was the anti-Shiite sentiment at the camp. Several older men in their late twenties and thirties had recently returned from fighting in Iraq. Instead of boasting about how many British or Americans they had killed, or how much equipment they had destroyed, they boasted of hijacking Shiites on deserted roads and executing them. Abdullah began to feel a deep inner conflict. How could he have such great brothers at this camp, and still, they seemed to be missing the point entirely about what the imam had been telling him. Islam was under attack from the outside, not from within. But Abdullah was afraid to mention his feelings to anyone here. The people here were your best friends when you agreed with them, but in an instant, they could become your worst enemies. Abdullah wanted to leave as soon as he could, but he was scared.

Chapter 5

Tintin was in Pakistan looking for Abdullah. He had grown a beard, and assumed a fake identity. He had joined a terrorist training camp, similar to the one Abdullah had joined in Yemen, but had no idea how far away he was from Abdullah. The Emir, Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab, had flown to Belgium, just two days after Abdullah's disappearance. He had told Tintin everything he knew, that 100 million dollars had been withdrawn from his accounts, that Abdullah's laptop had been searched by security experts, that anyone Abdullah knew had been thoroughly interrogated, but that he had no idea of his whereabouts, and that nothing pertinent had been found, which might lead to Abdullah's location or indicate his intentions. The Emir pleaded with Tintin to help find his dear little lambkin of a son. On a whim, Tintin had flown to Islamabad, in the hopes of tracking down Abdullah, but so far he was having no success.

Meanwhile, Abdullah received news of his mission. A conference of global security experts was meeting in Brussels next month, to discuss among other things, how to deal with the threat of Islamic terrorism. Scouts from Abdullah's camp were already living in Brussels, posing as businessmen, they found out that many high ranking conference goers would be dining at certain restaurants while in Brussels. Abdullah, and a somewhat older man, who had fought the Americans in Afghanistan, were to pose as conference goers, dine at one of these restaurants, and when the moment was right, they would retrieve explosives, that were hidden in the storage room by an accomplice who worked in the restaurant, and detonate them, along with themselves, in the middle of the dining area, killing as many conference goers as possible. Abdullah accepted the task, but deep down inside, he made plans to escape.

Chapter 6

The moment Abdullah landed in Brussels with his fake Argentinian passport, he immediately left his accomplice, and took a train to Marlinspike. Nestor and Captain Haddock were at home, and they immediately took Abdullah in and asked him what had happened. They told him, that Tintin had gone looking for him after the Emir's visit, but they had no idea where and how Tintin was conducting his search. Abdullah cried when he recounted the old days, when he used to call the Captain Blistering Barnacles, and had played jokes on him. The Captain and Nestor were very gentle with Abdullah, and soon, after several hot cups of cocoa, and many hours spent sitting together and talking, he began to feel better. He confided everything in Haddock and Nestor.

Later, after Abdullah had fallen asleep, Nestor and the Captain talked about what to do. One thing was for sure, Thompson and Thomson were not to be involved, as they would certainly do more harm than good. Nestor said that it would be a mistake to let Abdullah fall into the hands of the Americans. Even though he had funded a terrorist organization with his father's money, the lad had not yet committed any direct act of terror. The Americans would surely torture him, and there was nothing to be gained from that. The Captain agreed, and said he would find a way of hiding Abdullah on a ship bound for Khemed, and help get him safely back to his father.

The next morning, Abdullah once more told the Captain everything he knew, any names, descriptions of people, or locations he could give. The Captain carefully took notes, and later met with a close friend from Belgian Naval Intelligence. Abduallah's accomplices in the Brussels restaurant bombing plot were found and arrested, and a large quantity of explosives was secured. But beyond that, there was little Abdullah could tell, that was of any use in foiling further terrorist plots. Professor Calculus devised a special shipping container, in which Abdullah could safely and comfortably hide, and he was shipped back to his father, the Emir.

Chapter 7

Tintin eventually returned from Pakistan. Although he hadn't found Abdullah, he succeeded in preventing numerous terrorist attacks, and aided in the capture of several top terror suspects. He was overjoyed to hear that Abdullah had come to his senses, and that Haddock, Nestor and Calculus had helped get him safely back to his father.

Abdullah himself was shaken for life. He had not necessarily come to his senses in the way Tintin might think. On the one hand, he never, for the rest of his life, forgave himself for having betrayed his brothers. He still firmly believed in the struggle of Islamic people and Jihad against outside intrusion. He did not however believe in senseless violence. He believed in a united front of Sunnis and Shiites, against decadent and corrupt outside forces, that tried to manipulate and control Islamic people.

Abdullah thought long and hard about various issues. A cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad for example, might in the worst case merit a flogging within his own country, but wasn't worth batting an eyelid over in non Muslim countries. He felt the Prophet was too great, and especially Allah was too great, that silly little things should be considered so offensive. It was issues like the infidel Mueller of Skoil, and foreign Arabex executives, along with British and American military intrusions in the region, that made Abdullah's blood boil. The pressures to embrace American pop culture, were in Abdullah's mind out of place in his country. Especially the Americans he had encountered over the years in his own country, he wished they would just shut up. He didn't want to hear them, or see them, or have anything to do with them. He had enjoyed certain aspects of his stay in the United States, and the people he met there, but he found that many Americans, when they traveled overseas, were too forceful, and acted self-righteous about their perceived superiority.

Once Abdullah was safely back in his father's palace, only very few people ever knew of his whereabouts. It was thought best for him not to venture too far from his gilded cage. He fell in love with Alexa, a maid from the Philippines. They married and had three children. Abdullah loved Alexa and his children with all his might. He could have had dozens of women, but he always remained true to his one and only dear sweetheart. Since he could no longer travel, Alexa told him endless tales of her childhood in the Philippines, so he could travel together with her in his mind. Alexa remained a Catholic, true to the way she had been brought up. Their children were raised Muslim, and taught a deep respect and understanding of other religions.

Every now and then, Tintin and Captain Haddock would come for a visit, and together with Abdullah and the Emir, they would sit in the beautiful courtyards of the palace, and recount their past adventures.

THE END


End file.
